The Islamic Hamas movement seeks to strengthen political ties with Saudi Arabia after years in which both sides boycotted each other, Palestinian officials and political analysts said.
On Monday, a delegation of senior officials from Hamas arrived in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah in Mecca. The delegation is headed by Ismail Haniya, the head of the political bureau of the movement, Khaled Mishaal, head of the movement abroad, and members of the political bureau, Musa Abu Marzouk, Khalil al-Hayya.
According to official sources, who preferred not to be named, the delegation from Hamas will hold meetings with Saudi officials to discuss repairing the relationship.
"Hamas' leadership is busy in Umrah. They (Hamas leaders) are waiting for final approval from the Saudis to meet," the sources said to The New Arab.
The visit will last for several days, and meetings, if held, will discuss several Palestinian issues, the relationship between the Kingdom and Hamas and the file of Palestinian prisoners in Saudi jails, sources added.
The visit occurs after a historic China-brokered deal between the kingdom and Hamas's ally Iran last month.
Relations between the Palestinian Islamic group and Riyadh have been cold since 2007, and attempts to end this tension have repeatedly failed. Around 62 members of Hamas have been arrested in Saudi Arabia over the years and remain in prison.
"Hamas hopes that the visit will be a gateway to improving relations with the Saudi side and moving stagnant waters," the official sources said.
"Hamas is keen on balanced relations with all Arab and Islamic countries in a way that serves the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people," Hussam al-Dajani, a Gaza-based political analyst, told TNA. "The delegation's visit is an important step on the road to restoring bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Hamas after years of apathy."
"I think that Hamas will do its best to restore its ties with Saudi Arabia as it knows that the Palestinians need to regain an Arabian power that will help them confront the Israeli occupation," al-Dajani said.
"What will contribute to accelerating the restoration of relations with Hamas is that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia desires to lead the Islamic world, and it knows that the gate to Palestine is very important for the Kingdom to achieve its goal," he added.
Hassan Asfour, a Ramallah-based political analyst, adopts another opinion in terms of the agendas, arguing that Hamas seeks to strengthen its ties with Saudi Arabia at the Palestinian Authority's expense.
"Hamas is working to exploit developments taking place in the world to strengthen its position in the Arab world without trying to restore national unity with Fatah and the Palestinian Authority," Asfour said.
"Hamas has always sought to present itself as an alternative to the Palestinian Authority and does not consider it a partner in the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation," he added.
"Saudi Arabia will deal intelligently with the Palestinian file and will not give up its principles in dealing with a unified Palestinian entity and not with factions that do not recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation as a legitimate representative of the Palestinians," Asfour opined.
Parallel to the Hamas visit, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Saudi Arabia at the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. However, according to senior PA officials, Abbas will not meet with the Hamas delegation.
"The current visit of Abbas to Saudi Arabia was coordinated for some time and was present and prepared according to diplomatic preparations, without having anything to do with the file of internal reconciliation with Hamas or holding meetings with the movement's leadership there," an official source at PA told TNA, denying that the visit was "surprising."
The source added that the main objective of Abbas' visit was to hold discussions with Saudi officials about the latest political developments in the Palestinian arena, the Israeli attacks on the city of Jerusalem and the rest of the Palestinian areas, the political future under the Israeli right-wing government that includes extremist ministers and how to influence Western society and the US administration to support the Palestinian narrative.